Rosemary Opens Her Heart: Home at Cedar Creek, Book Two (9 page)

“James.” Abby rested her hand on his arm with a serene smile. “You gave her the very
best you had to offer. Zanna’s a lucky girl to still have you for a friend, truly
forgiving her for the way she behaved last fall. Any woman would be blessed to call
you her husband, James. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

James blinked, caught up in the depth of their conversation. He sensed that a lot
of couples he knew couldn’t speak this openly about matters of the heart. “And I’m
blessed to call you my gut friend, Abby,” he murmured.

Jonny Ropp clanged his knife against his glass until everyone in the greenhouse got
quiet. “Let’s return thanks before our meal,” he said, and all heads bowed. After
a few moments of silence the groom spoke again. “We’re happy to have you all here.
Let’s enjoy the rest of our big day!”

The open room filled with the chatter of couples, who passed platters of sandwiches
and bowls of salads. “We should get more in the spirit of this wedding supper, instead
of being so all-fired serious,” James said. “I didn’t mean to spoil your fun, Abby.”

She nodded toward a table across from them. “Looks like you and I are having a party
compared to your sister and Matt. Goodness, what a frown Emma’s wearing.”

After he accepted a bowl of slaw from Owen Coblentz, James glanced at them. Emma sat
with her chin in her hand, looking away from Matt as though she were ready to burst
into tears.

“I’m sorry to see that,” he said. “My sister is responsible for our parents while
I work in the shop—she does all the housework and cooking—and she deserves a nice
fellow to have some fun with. At twenty-two, she’s wondering if time and the chance
to marry are passing her by.”

“I’d go talk to her,” Abby said as she chose two triangle-shaped sandwiches, “but
this isn’t the place. Emma’s well aware that Matt’s had his eye on Rosemary all day.
It’s one thing to be paired with a fellow you’ve got your heart set on, and another
thing altogether when he doesn’t return your feelings.”

James spooned applesauce onto his plate. It struck him again how Jonny Ropp had told
him—months ago—that he’d been acting just as unaware of Abby’s feelings as Matt seemed
to be of Emma’s.

Something inside James shifted. What if he was missing out on the opportunity God
had in mind for him? What if Abby had been the right woman for him all along? Maybe
he should ask her out sometime—

Ask her now. When will you have a more perfect opportunity?

She turned toward him, a sandwich at her lips, as though she anticipated something
wonderful. He saw himself reflected in her large, doelike eyes and all rational thought
left him. And wasn’t that a silly reaction? It wasn’t like he was a young, tongue-tied
adolescent without any experience around women. He’d known Abby all his life. And
being here at Zanna’s wedding certainly proved that he’d learned how to handle rejection,
should Abby decline his invitation.

James took a deep breath. “You know, I’m building a buggy for a company that gives
horse-drawn tours of New Orleans,” he began before he lost his nerve. “Would you want
to join me for a test drive after I finish it next week?”

The words hovered between them while Abby chewed and swallowed,
her eyes wide. She looked delighted. “Does that include a tour of the countryside
around Cedar Creek?”

“It does if that’s what you’d like, Abby.” And didn’t it feel good, to know he had
just made her so happy?

“I’d like to bring a picnic,” she replied pertly. “With the dogwoods and the redbuds
in bloom, it’s the perfect time to enjoy the spring weather, don’t you think?”

James was beyond thinking. As Abby squeezed his hand, he could only nod happily. Wasn’t
this yet one more surprise Zanna’s wedding day had brought about?

O
n Friday morning, Rosemary sat forward on the seat of the buggy, willing old Gertie
to trot faster. The restaurant in Bloomingdale wanted ten pies for the weekend, but
she was too agitated to bake. Titus and Beth Ann had chatted all during breakfast
about the fine time they’d had at the wedding yesterday. After that, when she’d checked
the messages in the phone shanty by the road to hear how many pies the café wanted,
Rosemary had also discovered a message from Matt Lambright.

“I’m calling for Titus Yutzy and for Rosemary,” he’d said in his energetic voice.
“Titus, I’ve got you two fine yearling rams picked out—a Montadale and a Rambouillet—and
I’ll bring them over whenever you’re ready. And while I’m there,” he added, “I’m hoping
to visit with you, too, Rosemary. I really enjoyed meeting you and Katie yesterday.
I’ll call you tomorrow afternoon, like we agreed.”

Rosemary’s heart had pounded so hard she could barely take down the phone number.
She’d been tempted not to tell Titus that Matt had called, but that would have been
the wrong way to handle this situation. Instead, she’d erased the message and left
the phone number on the table for her father-in-law before hitching Gertie to
the buggy. The best remedy for her racing thoughts was to visit with her mamm and
Malinda, her sister. Surely there, at the home where she had grown up—and where she
and Joe had been living—she would find the support she needed.

Was she the only one who felt it was too soon to embrace all this excitement about
sewing and sheep and Cedar Creek? Beth Ann had rhapsodized all the way home about
Abby Lambright and her Stitch in Time business, as well as about the incredible assortment
of fabrics at the mercantile. Titus had gotten new ideas for improving his flock,
and he couldn’t say enough positive words about Matt. And just the mention of Matt’s
name made Katie ask repeatedly about his border collies. Thank goodness her little
girl was riding quietly now, anticipating a visit with her grandmother and aunt.

Rosemary drove past the parcel of land she and Joe had bought, sadly imagining the
orchard and the beehives they had planned to put behind their new house. It would
have made such a pretty place to call their own, but now…She sighed. The weedy, unplanted
fields and the clumpy grass along the fencerows resembled the way she felt this morning:
needy and ignored and in total disarray.

She clapped the reins on Gertie’s broad back. Five minutes later she pulled onto the
familiar lane, where her maiden name,
KEIM
, painted on the mailbox had faded over the years. Rosemary waved at Malinda, who
was hoeing the freshly tilled vegetable garden, and hitched the mare at the post beside
the front porch. “All right, Katie, we’re at Mammi’s,” she said as she helped her
daughter down. “You’re to stay in the house with your grandmother and me, understand?
No slipping out the back door while we’re visiting.”

Katie nodded, her fingers in her mouth, but the twinkle in her eye told Rosemary she
would have to watch her daughter every moment. Up the porch stairs they went, with
Katie clutching her hand as she took each tall step. “Hullo, Mamm!” Rosemary called
out as she entered the kitchen.

Her mother answered from upstairs, so Rosemary steered her
toddler toward the staircase in the front room. As they walked past the two recliners,
she noted how the scuffmarks on the walls showed up more in the morning light. Joe
would have painted these rooms by now, if he were still alive. He had been doing so
well with his new remodeling business. Because of the downturn in the economy, he’d
lined up a lot of jobs with English folks who were updating their homes rather than
buying new ones.

As she helped Katie up each step, Rosemary forced her thoughts away from all the unrealized
dreams Joe had left behind. She put a determined smile on her face. “And how are you
this morning, Mamm?” she asked as she entered the bedroom her parents had shared for
more than fifty years.

“Wasn’t expecting you girls to drop by, what with you being gone yesterday.” Her mother
looked up from the clean sheets she was tucking around the mattress. “So how was the
wedding?”

Rosemary stepped to the other side of the bed to help. “Nice enough. But I’m mighty
tired of Titus saying how much greener the grass is on the Cedar Creek side of the
fence and Beth Ann declaring how
wonderful
it would be to live closer to Sam Lambright’s mercantile, and—”

Rosemary bit her lip. She should speak more carefully. Her daughter had picked up
the faceless Amish doll from the hand-carved cradle in the corner, which her mother
kept there for her to play with. Katie was only three, but she had a knack for repeating
what she’d heard—usually at the most inopportune times.

“Sorry, Mamm,” she murmured. “I didn’t intend to dump all my complaints on you. Yesterday
was…more difficult than I had anticipated.”

Her mother smoothed the Dresden plate quilt with her hand. Bertha Keim was quiet by
nature, so she didn’t respond except to raise her eyebrows.

“I felt like a fish out of water,” Rosemary explained. “Everyone else was having such
a gut time. Beth Ann made a new friend and
Titus gave us money for fabric and kitchen supplies, so now she’s all excited about
the new clothes she’ll make for herself and Titus and Katie—”

“You didn’t pick out fabric for yourself?” her mother asked. “You ought to oblige
Titus when he offers to buy you things, Rosemary. You’ve done him quite a favor, moving
into his home and taking care of him and Beth Ann.”

Rosemary bit back a remark. While her mother’s reply was true enough, she had hoped
for more…support. “It’s just not time for colored dresses yet, Mamm. And while Titus
arranged an exchange of rams with the Lambrights’ son, our girl here”—Rosemary tilted
her head toward Katie, who sat on the floor, rocking the doll—“couldn’t stop playing
with the D-O-Gs. To make it worse, the owner of those D-O-Gs kept gawking at me, even
though I told him I wanted no part of his attention. Then he called this morning,
saying he had Titus’s rams picked out and that he was…looking forward to bringing
them to Queen City. I don’t know why I agreed to talk to him on the phone tomorrow.”

Her mother stuffed a fat feather pillow into a fresh pillowcase. “And does Treva Lambright
still run her greenhouse there on the county road, alongside the mercantile?”

“Jah, that’s where they served the two meals.” Rosemary grabbed the other pillow and
jammed it into the remaining pillowcase.

“I’ve been wanting some hostas to plant under the tree out front,” Mamm mused aloud.
“And maybe Malinda will want to go to Cedar Creek this week for some tomato and cabbage
plants. A tree branch fell on her cold frame—broke it open—and the deer ate her seedlings.”

Rosemary squeezed her eyes shut. Why didn’t anyone understand that she had no interest
in Treva’s Greenhouse or in the Cedar Creek Mercantile—or in Matt Lambright? “You
could find starter plants closer to home than— Oh, forget it,” she said with a sigh.
“Just forget it.”

Her mother glanced at Katie, who was now spinning in a circle, swinging the doll by
its arm. “Sounds like a gut time was had by all except for you, daughter,” she remarked.
“Time marches on. The world won’t stand still because you lost your Joe. You’ve got
a little girl to raise, and you need to find a new life for yourself—something besides
being Titus Yutzy’s housekeeper and Beth Ann’s stand-in mother. What don’t you like
about the Lambright boy? He comes from a gut family.”

And what did that mean? Surely her widowed mother understood the heartbreak and loneliness
she was going through…It wasn’t like Mamm had been looking for another husband, even
though that’s what she was telling Rosemary to do.

“I…I’m still in love with Joe, Mamm. I miss him every day.”

“I didn’t say those feelings for him would go away. But they’ll get easier to bear,
with time—unless you keep dwelling on the past,” she added matter-of-factly. “You’ll
shrivel up like a grape that rolled behind the fridge if you don’t mix with other
folks…and other fellas.”

Her mother angled the pillow against the walnut headboard. “You’re too young to be
alone, Rosemary. Malinda and I worry about you, shutting yourself away at the Yutzy
farm, cooking and cleaning and making pies. It keeps you busy, but there’s no future
in it.”

Was her mother jealous because she’d moved in with Titus instead of staying here with
her and Malinda? Or did Mamm mean what she’d said about finding another husband so
soon?

“Sorry I bothered you,” Rosemary said. “I wanted some time here to settle my nerves.
If you’ll look after Katie, I’ll be downstairs in a few.”

Mamm sighed. Then she smiled at her granddaughter and opened her arms. “Mammi baked
snickerdoodles yesterday, Katie. Shall we go down and have us some?”

Katie dropped the doll and rushed into her grandmother’s embrace. As they went down
the steps, her mother’s voice echoed in the
stairwell, leading Katie’s as they sang “In der Stillen Einsamkeit” to the tune of
“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Mamm loved to sing in church, and she was tickled
that her granddaughter had some musical ability and a clear voice.